Students progress from managing the creation of their own ideas and information for sharing to working collaboratively. In doing so, they learn to negotiate and develop plans to complete tasks. When engaging with others, they take personal and physical safety into account, applying social and ethical protocols that acknowledge factors such as social differences and privacy of personal information. They also develop their skills in applying technical protocols such as devising file naming conventions that are meaningful and determining safe storage locations to protect data and information.

Students can describe how data is sent through a network, and how the data is transferred indirectly from the source to the destination, often through many other devices on its way to the end point. Different devices on the network contribute to this process in different ways.

The content descriptions do not explicitly address Security in band 5-6.

Visualise data

Students can work with data that requires some simple processing using software. This could be in the form of things such as simple spreadsheet calculations or using data in code. They draw conclusions about the data as a result of this processing.

Students can define problems that are similar to those they are familiar with, allowing them to draw on their previous experiences. In this band, problems should have more than one outcome (i.e. they should include a decision that will lead to a result that differs from another)

Changing a sequence of instructions to alter the resulting output from the same inputs the next time the sequence is followed.

Students can take an existing algorithm and change it so that it solves a derivative problem from the original one. This may include expanding the scope of the problem (e.g. adding additional conditions to branching statements) or changing some of the steps to generate a variant of the output.

Branching involves following different steps based on a yes/no decision.

Students can develop decisions in algorithms that deal with more generalised cases and account for edge-cases and multiple requirements (for example, making any type of sandwich, factoring in dietary requirements)

Specifying that a sequence of instructions are to be repeated as long as the result of testing a specific condition is true.

Students can describe algorithms in greater detail by using iteration (doing things multiple times) to ensure that a task is complete before moving onto the next task. For example, keep spreading the butter until the whole piece of bread is covered.

Implementing a block of instructions in a programming language that is repeated based on some kind of test condition. These include looping constructs such as while, for and repeat until.

Students can implement loops in their program that repeat a given number of times, continue until a certain condition is met, and may include variables and values that change inside the loop and trigger its exit condition.

People and groups that are likely to want to use the system in the future, possibly to address an as yet undetermined need, or a change in current needs

Students can predict the expected long-term requirements of a solution by extrapolating who the potential users will be in the future, and how this informs the flexibility and adaptability of the design to account for any likely changes.

The impact digital systems have had on our ability to solve a range of problems that enrich and enhance our lives

Students can explain how existing systems meet the immediate needs of users, and how this influences their design and implementation. This is best achieved through study of existing systems, and explicit teaching when developing their own solutions. Introducing the idea that systems need to be designed for any foreseeable change helps students identify who potential future users are, but also how they might need to introduce flexibility or breadth of scope into their designs.

A broad interpretation of sustainability looks at many aspects of digital systems that make them viable over the long term, including their environmental impacts, economics and profitability, technical developments and changes, and social perceptions.

Students can understand how a broad interpretation of sustainability must be considered when evaluating the effectiveness of a solution. Scaffolding and prompting them to help understand a range of issues is likely to be necessary in this band. Asking very specific questions is a good strategy to help them understand that long term viability of systems hinges on a range of factors.

Students can reflect on their progress against their plan and explain how what they learn and discover changes from their initial thinking is a part of the creation process. Students should be challenged to check the correctness of their conclusions at each stage of the process, ensuring their understanding of ideas and information is deeper and more thorough than may otherwise be the case.

Developing an approach, strategy or identifying sources useful to investigate a problem and/or develop a solution.

Students can describe their plans by specifying the steps they intend to take to solve their problem and how long it might take to find the answers to questions they are investigating. This introduces the idea of projects being things that don't start and end immediately.

Using online tools that facilitate text, audio and video communication to interact with other people working on a common project.

Students can use online tools to collaborate both in real-time and asynchronously, and learn the benefits and challenges associated with each. They should be complementing online collaboration with face-to-face opportunities where possible, and those meetings could include discussion of the challenges they are learning about and how they may be addressed.

Agreed upon rules and guidelines that encourage behaving with integrity and respect when interacting and communicating with others.

Students can act honestly and with integrity in their interactions with others, and consider the appropriateness of how data is used and the implications of poor data privacy for the users of solutions.

Agreed upon rules and guidelines that allow all members to feel comfortable and safe when working together.

Students can explain how their actions have consequences for their relationships with others, and are empathetic to any social experiences and beliefs that may differ between members in the group. They consider how these need to be factored into both their solutions and their collaborative relationships.

Agreed upon rules and guidelines that determine the technologies and technical approaches the group will use to collaborate on a project, such as programming languages, development platforms and style guides.

Students can think deeply about the technical decisions they make when developing their solutions and collaborating. These include things such as decisions about how files are named and where they are stored (e.g. cloud vs local), platforms and programming languages they may be using to create their solutions, and the implications of their choices for their peers and users.

Characteristics and elements of the digital system that determine how the user interacts with it. Includes things like buttons and prompts for text entry.

Students can demonstrate their thinking and understanding of how interactions could take place without the complexity of programming or application use that may be beyond their experience at this stage. The focus should be on how the interfaces they design facilitate interaction, and their ability to communicate the reasons behind their design decisions.